Fabriogenia sp Spider Wasp (2/4)

Hymenoptera: Pompilidae

Fabriogenia sp  

It's not easy being a spider wasp. Summer doesn't last long and there's so much to do. One can't even take Christmas Day off.

First it's dig, dig, dig in the heat, scratching out a burrow several centimetres deep in the ground.

Then search high and low for a suitable spider. It must be bigger than oneself because it has to provide enough food to sustain a wasp grub from the egg through to adulthood.

Having identified where a large spider is hiding, this is the dangerous bit, attack it and sting it without being fanged and becoming the spider's Christmas dinner.

Tghere's a lot more to do yet. Bite off all the spider's legs, all eight of them. Oops, bitten off a pal as well, but leaving the legs on would make it very difficult to get this thing past obstacles and if I managed to drag it to the burrow, I'd never get it down it.

Now, make a wasp-line for the burrow dragging this thing all the way, across sticks and stones and through clumps of grass, clutching it beneath me with one or two of my legs. Thank goodness I've got six of them.

Drag it into the burrow. After all this work I still have to give birth to an egg. Push it out the spider's abdomen. There you go little one. Enjoy that when you hatch, you have it all to yourself.

Not finished yet. Finally, seal up this burrow to protect my baby. I said finally, but there's still hours of Christmas Day left. Mustn't waste them. Find another good spot to dig a burrow.